James Gallagher’s American debut couldn’t possibly have gone any better

He's from Strabane and he's an animal, that's why they call James Gallagher 'the Strabanimal'.

SBG starlet James Gallagher (7-0) made very light work of Chinzo Machida (5-3) at Bellator 180 in Madison Square Garden. The 20-year-old took the centre of the cage as soon as the opening buzzer sounded, while Chinzo's calm demeanour from the get-go was reminiscent of his former UFC light-heavyweight champion brother Lyoto. Although Gallagher rushed in, he showed real maturity to not engage in the striking against a high-level karate practitioner like Machida. He remained composed, found his flow and found home with the first strike of the bout before catching a kick and taking Machida down to the mat. Gallagher breezed into mount and went to work with his ground-and-pound, opening up a cut above his 40-year-old opponent's eye. As the blood began to seep, Gallagher took his back, secured the rear-naked choke and forced the tap at 2:22 of the opening round. https://twitter.com/SandhuMMA/status/878780305678716928 The win for Gallagher marked a successful debut on American soil. It also saw him maintain his pristine professional record and score his fourth-straight win under the Bellator banner. Speaking to Jimmy Smith, Gallagher oozed confidence.

"I'm always here for the first-round finish. When I say I do, I always come and do, every time."

After the fight, Gallagher hopped out of the cage to go embrace his family in the crowd. https://twitter.com/SpikeSports/status/878780873608486912